BelieveReeve?

“The Man of Steel explodes into action like never before, with the Christopher Reeve as Superman Premium Format™ Figure.

Having just celebrated his 75th anniversary last year, the all-American icon endures through the decades like, well, a Man of Steel. Superman’s famous red cape soars on, even while aspects and attributes of the world’s first comic book superhero change as a reflection of the times and culture…”

Unveiled for preorder on this splendidly presented page, the highly anticipated reveal of this latest PF is not quite the embodiment of SUPERMANIA’s worst fears realised but still does little to advance them beyond the initial thoughts as offered here.

Besides the hideous (and unnecessary??) wooden plinth to force the height of the piece over two feet the addition of the out-of-scale Green Crystal (as an exclusive) elicits yet more bafflement but little incentive. There are positives – the costume (less skinny belt and padless cape) is fabulously realised but the irony of such time and effort being spent on this and having the best view coming from behind is not lost here.

Even this excellent article documenting the talented Matthew Black’s artistic process and obsession with the Reeve lifecast can’t detract from how much better the Hot Toys figure manages to appear sat on his own desk. Sadly, the gaunt, unbalanced portrait simply fails to capture Reeve and the pose is every bit as out of character.

With less ambition and more faith in simplicity and the source material this may well have been the definitive licensed Reeve as Superman statue. To expand, a base comprising of a top-tier corner from a New York apartment terrace, a headsculpt by Trevor Grove resplendent with warm expression, a revised costume with correct details and a pose, well, see any publicity photo from ’78 and take your pick. Whichever way you slice it, the fusion of iconic vintage with 21st century aesthetic in this instance fails to soar…